Change is the only constant thing in life. I've learned to like it even though sometimes it's hard. This blog is about adapting to changes and seeing things differently. I guess my wish is for readers to see value in taking the 'risk' of changing, for the better, and maybe contribute towards their courage trying it :)

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

How come we never met before, family?

Life never gets boring. As the buzz about cutting meat dies down, the next "thing" was the family reunion. I was about to meet a side of my family that I've never met before.

My grandpa lives in BC. I saw him once when I was 12. Busy businessman he is. One of his sisters lives in the UK, and we met several times back home. I knew he had at least one other brother in Mauritius. I had no idea how big the rest of family was! People came from Montreal, Vancouver, London and Toronto. They hadn't had such a reunion for almost two decades. Three generations sharing a meal, a moment, a dance floor and making their own memory of this rare event.

To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect of it all. Will they be welcoming? Will I feel out of place? Do they really want to meet? Many questions, and only one way to find out. So off we went and damn I'm glad we did! No matter how indifferent I could've been in the past towards those practical strangers, the moment we were introduced as relatives, we were family. Everyone was so welcoming and caring, and it felt so natural to care about them back. Numbers and emails were exchanged, and so were promises to keep in touch. God knows whether we will, but I'm sure that, at that moment, we all meant to.

I do hope that the next reunion will not take another two decades. It was really nice meeting everyone and, although we might have very different mindsets, I'm sure that we really do care, each in our own way and capacity. After all, family is family. Or so I think.